It is necessary to turn a seat cover inside out in order to place it over a seat frame or to perform other assembly operations. Since seat covers are manufactured wrong side out, they must be reversed prior to installation. Reversing the seat covers has typically been done as a manual operation in which an individual would reverse the cover entirely by hand. This is a time consuming step that is very labor intensive.
Unsatisfactory apparatus designs have previously been created. These devices generally comprise a hollow tube or shaft over which a seat cover is fitted. At the opposite end of the shaft a blower is installed which draws air from the shaft and sucks the seat cover into the shaft. The primary problem with this apparatus is that there is no satisfactory way to automatically stop the suction when the seat cover reaches its proper position. This often results in torn, ripped or improperly turned seat covers.
Previous apparatus designs have resulted in torn or improperly turned seat covers due to the fact that a constant high velocity is attained. When the device is turned on, it immediately begins to pull on the seat cover until it reaches its maximum velocity and then abruptly stops. The seat cover, therefore, goes from a stationary state to a rapidly moving state and back to a stationary state again. This rapid acceleration followed by an immediate stop is what may cause the seat cover to tear or become damaged. Of course, the weight of the fabric is another factor that is not considered in the previous devices in that the fabric weight determines how the fabric will be affected by the suction.
A need thus exists for a method and apparatus for turning a seat cover inside out without causing damage to the seat cover.